First of all, watch the video above. Look at how that Proton Satria Neo goes, and with nary a sound too, other than the front tyres struggling to grip the ground and that subtle electric motor whine as it puts its power to the ground through a single speed gearbox.

This is an experimental vehicle done up by Punch Powertrain, the company that supplies Proton its CVT transmissions. This particular car wasn’t commissioned by Proton as part of any project. According to a Punch representative, they picked the Satria Neo because they liked how it looked.

Under the hood is an electric motor that does 100 kW (about 134 hp) and 220 Nm of torque – the best part of all is that like all electric motors, peak torque is achieved at all rev ranges, so you get the full shove the moment you put your foot down on the throttle.

The 660V electric motor is of the switched reluctance type, which is one of various types of electric motors such as induction type and permanent magnet synchronous motors. SR motors are apparently cheaper to manufacture, and are also simpler in construction.

Like most EVs, it uses a single speed gearbox, because of the electric motor’s torque spread. However, Punch also has a two-speed gearbox for car manufacturers who want to maximise both efficiency and performance. The whole system is designed to be very compact and Punch says the electric powertrain is ready to be developed if a customer is interested.

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.

Come on Proton.. Enough with this Satria Neo this Neo that Neo everything.. U really wanna step up in the automotive industry, CREATE A NEW MODEL ALREADY.. Stop using old cars and “creating” new technologies..

Did you read the article? It says “Punch Powertrain picked the Satria Neo because they liked how it looked.”
Proton didn’t ask for it. Blame Punch Powertrain la..
Im a neutral doesn’t side any car manufacturer. But you sir are just talk out loud looking stupid..

Where is the one developed by nash electric or something? U know this electric thing is easy to be researched on, particularly by a tertiary student doing master or phd

It seems proton r&d failed to take the level playing field when the world switched from combustion engine to electric motor. Last time company like proton can argue on its infancy years vs others who been producing vehicles 50-60 years before. Now with the playing field is even, because of the electric thing, rnd still cant put it right.

In this new millenia of automotive u got to have electrical engineers, and u got to see that years before it actually happen!

I am readily give proton two ideas – put two separate electric motors on the two wheels on the same axis. Or each one on all four wheels. And with a very good torque distributors, u get to spin each of the wheels at desired speed. Its like boating – the faster u want to move to the side, the speed at the wheel must be made faster. This way u can corner faster and get great lap time.

The second is speed retarder. Instead of getting the gear up, u slow down the motor by retarding the speed. And the wasted energy is fed to a electric turbo charger

Through time, connectors and sealant will deteriorate and electrical leakage will occur if submerged underwater in a flood. Another way the leakage could occur is by manufacturer’s defects or underestimation in design.

Electrical appliances need an energy source, alternators and 12V/24V DC batteries in normal passenger cars. At these voltage, no harm is done to a normal human body.

In EV, we are looking at more than 600V of electricity, as quoted above “660V electric motor”, and the battery has equally rated supply voltage. When come into contact with 660V wires (or leakage through water in case of flood if not waterproof properly), it will leave a nasty burn, or cardiac arrest.

Punch is just pulling a selling pitch to Proton. Why they choose Neo, to show that their system can fit even a small car. Of course they needed to select one that was build to handle speed given the powerful torques from the motor.

Being a fan of turbos myself, what i can tell you is. Yes, modern turbos have very little lag and a lower turbo threshold. But here’s the thing, an electric motor dishes out power INSTANTLY. Reason why the P1 or the 918 is electric powered down low and fuel powered up high. Think about it. If you’re still not convinced about what i have said, go to youtube and search EV West E36 M3. Compare oranges with oranges not oranges with apples.

No doubt, broad rpm band torque monster from tiny but complex 1.6l ‘suckers’ are impressive. but it’s more impressive if it come at literally at any rpm from a ‘melon’ that basically a stator and rotor (one of them don’t even move)

Is this satria neo promotion meant to distract from sales of Iriz which has stalled,due to the bad reports on the Punch gearboxes?
If the children of Punch Gunalan can make gearboxes,I think there is more hope for Proton.

Anyone here still remember when CUSCO chose the Satria Neo and modified them for use as rally cars in Japan ? That was in 2010, and it had to be one of the proudest moments ever for Proton, and Malaysians too. Here’s a really nice video of the CUSCO-tuned Satria Neo at the 33rd JAIA event in 2013 ( hopefully, my comment won’t be accidentally marked as spam because of this link ! ) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je_m5LIYEc4

If I want to be reaaallyyy honest, I like how the Neo looks too. The face has aggression without being over the top. It’s really such a shame that the Neo didn’t spawn a proper successor to the original Satria GTi.

Same here ! I drove a Satria Neo R3 on Proton’s Shah Alam oval test track, and it was a pleasant surprise ! Managed 130 km/h on the 40-something degree bends, and it remained planted 24/7. Only did 3 laps because it was almost out of fuel, but I knew instantly from those few minutes that it was the enthusiast’s Proton. Pretty sure it will eat corners too, and the CPS versions have pretty decent power to weight ratio.

Sadly, the interior of the Satria Neo is its biggest letdown. Everything except the leather seats and head unit looked and felt cheap. The ergonomics were poor too, even for a car of this class. Compared to the brilliant Satria GTi, the Satria Neo, CPS or otherwise is just the former’s empty shell. But still, not a half-bad effort from Proton, but these days, the Satria Neo is damn near 9 years old and it really feels its age.

I doubt Proton will make a 3rd generation Satria anytime soon, they just can’t justify the return-on-investment.

Interesting experience you’ve got at the Iriz launch carnival, was it? I agree with the interior being crap, so to speak. It can’t be helped as it was born in a time when Proton couldn’t care less about how people perceived the car’s interior. I remember Top Gear having an episode involving cheap and cheerful cars after the Wall Street financial crisis. They trashed its ergonomics, too.

A purpose-made enthusiast’s car is for more affluent times, agreed. The most Proton can do now is produce a warmer variant of one of their newer cars like how the Fiesta has an ST version. Heck, even the Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost is already a big upgrade over the standard Fiesta, so I don’t think they need to abandon enthusiasts entirely.

well to be honest totally agree with you on the interior part. Infact it was scheduled to actually come out with the ghastly beige trim that was on the Gen 2 but a managerial change just before the launch of this car manage to change what they could.

However, I have to disagree that the Neo is a pale comprasion to the GTI. The Gti had the advantage of a stonking engine courtesy of Mitsubishi but chassis and suspension set up wise, the neo is light years ahead from the crude set up the donor car of the gti had. Though i agree it was havily reworked, it still cannot match even a plain vanilla Neo in chasis sophistication and suspension compliance. (note, i didnt say ultimate grip)

Mind you. unlike the older satria, a neo and a neo r3 arent all that different because the donor car is already good. With a little tinkering, it truly can transform itself into a giant killer as the chassis is good enough to take a lot more power without fuss and even the stock brakes are rated for 2.0 capacity engines(as if proton knew nobody would keep it stock) This are probably one of the reasons why the Japanese were impressed.

Despite having upgraded to a another car, I still keep my neo around as i beleive it still the best chassis in production today among all Malaysian cars and even many foreign makes. It is clear where most of the budget went during development whish is why is has shockingly bad ergonomics and interior But hey, it puts a bigger smile on my face then my German daily driver and that in itself is worth it.

can engine swap with my neo ? always been waiting for this. for those who never drove a neo before. you would not understand how great feeling it is when you have a good handling car. oh this is nothing to do with politics , just pure enjoy driving. ;)

no dark age n middle age ppl read and learn from experience… hence all the technologies we have today… this is a problem with current population….totally spoiled, wanting to be spoon-fed, expecting everything to automatically drop on the lap, lazy and dreamy age generation…

I’m not sure why all of you arguing each other. Look at the other side Bros. ELECTRICAL! means NO FUEL! Wasn’t that enough for you guys? Regardless to any kind of model they’re using. As long as you don’t have to make your pocket rabak with the fuel price nowadays

they might say they choose the Neo bcos it looks good , and it does..but i also think thy choose the Neo bcos of the packaging…the neo has the least space efficient chassis and the least room interior wise , so the challenge is to make all those battries fit in the car and package it in a way that they can engineer something small and efficient that can fit other small cars..

This is a good move & even better if they can make smaller motor with same power + performance.. I think Proton should took a part in this project & make it even smaller.. Current Irish Engine (make it Dual VVTi} + >75/<90kw motor + <3 liter per 100km = Price <RM70k… Dammed is good oledi & everybody don't care much on Fuel price anymore….

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